


Timing

by hexicity



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: First Dates, M/M, Pining, demon killing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 07:23:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10986186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexicity/pseuds/hexicity
Summary: All Jace wants is to take Simon Lewis on a date. And apparently, all the Universe wants is to prevent that.





	Timing

Jace hasn’t ever had trouble with relationships before. 

First of all, he’s charming. He can basically just look in someone’s direction the right way to catch their attention, and he can feel their eyes on him when he walks away. Usually he’s the one to flirt for information on missions, because he’s great with guys and girls. And he’d rather not see his little sister being stared at by creepy men. 

Second of all, Jace has never been in love before. He’s had crushes, sure, and he’s looked at certain pretty people and wanted to kiss them, but he’s never felt butterflies or anxiety over the thought of being turned down. And up until now, he’s always assumed that it was because he’d never been turned down. 

But then he met Simon, and now he knows. 

His first attempt is very traditional. He buys yellow flowers and dresses nice and texts Simon to meet him at Taki’s. And once again he feels the fluttery feeling in his stomach that Isabelle diagnoses as nerves, and is apparently completely normal. 

Simon is wearing his brand new band tee-shirt, which Jace personally helped design. He’s sitting by the window when Jace arrives, directly in a beam of light. Ever since he’s become immune to the light, Simon’s been specifically choosing to position himself wherever he can soak up as much sun as possible. Almost like a cat. 

“Hey.” Jace greets, settling into the seat across from Simon. Simon beams when he sees the flowers, and Jace hands them over so Simon can feel the petals between his fingertips like he always does. “Nice shirt.” 

“These are so pretty.” Simon sighs happily, moving the bouquet up to his face to feel the silk of the petals against his cheeks. He eyes Jace over the flowers and raises an eyebrow. “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m affronted,” Jace says with an exaggerated gasp, “that you’re suggesting that I can only do nice things on special occasions.” 

Simon rolls his eyes. “Okay, Jace, so then this is a normal day at the coffee shop? Just me watching you drink coffee, like usual, and then us both going our separate ways?”

“You could get blood.” Jace suggests. 

“I don’t trust Taki’s blood.” Simon insists. “I know a guy who got sick from this place. Not me, no way. I’m too careful.” 

He looks so proud of himself. Jace’s stomach is twisting around again, and he needs to use that momentum to make his move, like Alec told him to do. 

“Hey,” he begins, “would you want to--”

And at that moment, the glass shatters and a Raum demon flies into the cafe. Jace instinctively reaches for his seraph, running to meet the demon before it can hurt anyone. Its long legs are batting away tables and getting stuck between chairs, and Jace has to dodge running people and tables being flung. He feels like he’s in a life-sized pinball game, and it takes at least five minutes to finally shove his blade into the thing’s neck.

He sighs as the ashes dissipate, and he notices Simon’s flowers laying dejectedly on the floor. A few feet away, Simon is holding a fistful of napkins to a fairie’s bleeding neck, murmuring quietly to her and looking concerned. 

“You alright?” Jace asks him, crouching next to where Simon and the fairie are situated. 

“I’m fine.” Simon promises. He smiles proudly, and the tips of his fangs poke out just slightly. “Vampire speed. But I think we need a healer for everyone else.” 

“I’m sure the staff is calling someone.” Jace spares a glance back at the counter, where employees are shuffling around tiredly and looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. “I really need to get to the Institute. I have to report this.”

“Okay.” Simon smiles again, but it’s noticeably dimmer this time. “No problem. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah.” Jace looks over at the flowers again, and his butterflies must be sleeping. He’s missed his opportunity. “I’ll call you, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

Jace leaves hurriedly, rushing to the Institute and cursing under his breath. He hates demons. 

//

The next time he tries, there are wards protecting them from any demon involvement. 

They’re at one of Magnus’ parties, celebrating someone’s birthday or achievement or something. Jace can’t keep track of every party. There’s at least two a month. Whatever it’s for must be pretty noteworthy, because Magnus is partying harder than usual. 

“I’m tired.” Alec declares, dropping into a barstool beside Jace. “It’s not like he needs a designated driver, because we’re home already. But sometimes when he’s really drunk he’ll start using magic, and that’s never happened in front of this many people before.”

“Relationships.” Maia murmurs with a solemn shake of her head. “What about you, Wayland? Is it official between you and Simon?”

Jace looks accusingly at Alec. “You told her?”

“He didn’t tell me.” Maia scoffs. “It’s obvious. Simon’s cute, but no one looks at him like you do. And your face is all red right now, so that’s more proof.” 

“I don’t like you.” Jace tells her, and she slides him a drink in response. 

He holds the glass tight in his grip as he makes his way over to Simon, who’s seated near the stage with his head tilted back. He’s watching the confetti that’s floating through the air, apparently, and Jace takes a minute to just watch Simon in a state of relaxation. Unfiltered. He’s beautiful, and the butterflies are awake and ready to go. 

“Hey.” He finally joins Simon on the couch, and he’s met with an eager smile as Simon rights himself. 

“Hey! I’m glad you’re here. I’m bored.” Simon moves to face him entirely. “It’s not like I can skip the party. Because like, I live here now.”

“Right.” Jace nods. “And then you wouldn’t be able to get hammered off Magnus’ magical shots.”

“I’ve been hammered precisely once in my life.” Simon corrects. “And that was when I was seventeen. And Luke drove me home and yelled at me until I threw up in his truck’s glove compartment. And to this day I’m not allowed to ride in the front seat of his truck.”

“Oh my God!” Jace gasps. “That’s why? That’s why he made you sit in the back when he took us to the docks?”

“I could literally be dying and he’d make me sit in the back.” Simon confirms with a laugh, and Jace is focused on the little crinkles at the corners of his eyes. And he’s focused on his lips, and the way his fangs poke out like usual. And just Simon’s face in general, really. 

It’s a good time to ask, Jace decides. He needs to be quick. 

“Simon,” he says firmly, “we should go out. Uh, to dinner. Not tonight, obviously, but tomorrow or whenever you’re free--”

He’s never had this much difficulty asking anyone out before. He doesn’t even understand what’s happening, but it’s like the words are glue and his throat is closing up and the longer he takes to get it out the more Simon probably loses interest by the second. 

“Jace?” Simon prods him, sounding alarmed. “Are you okay? You’re zoning out, man.”

“Um--”

“Hey, attention!” Magnus’ voice suddenly blares through the loft, and they both wince and turn to the stage. Magnus is clearly over his limit, and he’s leaning heavily into the microphone stand. Even when he’s hammered, there’s a kind of cat-like gracefulness to his movements. Jace is worried that his graceful movements will take him right off the edge of the stage. “We’re gonna amp this party up a liiiiitle bit, hang on a sec.” 

And with that he snaps his fingers, and suddenly the couch is moving. And suddenly the couch has fur. And suddenly the couch is making a sort of growling noise. 

“Holy shit, it’s a fucking lion, Jace!” Simon shrieks, and yanks Jace onto the floor. There’s chaos as party guests frantically dart around the loft, and apparently all furniture is now a living and moving animal. 

Simon yanks Jace back just in time to avoid colliding with a flamingo, and Jace has to press his back against the stage to get out of the line of traffic. 

“Okay.” Simon exhales slowly. “I’ll find Alec, who can probably get Magnus under control, and you--you deal with the animals.”

“Why do I have to do that?” Jace whines, watching a capybara claw its way up the bar, where Maia is calmly putting away the bottles. 

“Because they’re like demons!” Simon reasons, his voice raising into hysteria. “And I’m fucking scared of animals that are bigger than a cat. Alright?”

“Alright.” Jace swallows a laugh. “And I’m remembering that for later.”

“Great.” Simon looks up at the stage, where Magnus is laughing hysterically. “Good luck with the rat thing.”

Jace watches him clamor up the stage. Next time, he’s asking in a padded fucking cell. 

//

He doesn’t need to ask another time, because after the horrifying night of animal scratches and rabies shots, Simon assures Jace that he interpreted the broken sentence fragments and he accepted the date. 

Stage one is finally achieved, and now stage two is in motion. 

He has brand new flowers, which are not going to end up on the floor of Taki’s. He’s wearing a suit, because they have very nice reservations at a very nice place. And he’s not at all nervous, because picking Simon up from Magnus’ place is much less scary than picking him up from Luke’s like he’d originally feared. 

It’s not like he’s entirely calm. The butterflies are definitely awake, and part of him worries that he’ll get there and Simon will have forgotten, or changed his mind. He doesn’t know why his mind insists on torturing him with such scenarios, because Simon would never do that. 

He’s pretty sure Simon would never do that. 

He knocks on the door, flowers in one hand and the other balled into a loose fist. Magnus answering is the first sign that something’s wrong. 

“Good evening, Jace.” He greets with a content smile. “Wow, beautiful flowers. Thank you, I accept.”

Magnus easily pulls the bouquet right out of Jace’s hands, and disappears back into the loft. Jace doesn’t go on many fancy dinner dates with people, usually just apartment hook-ups, so he thinks maybe this is how they always go. He follows Magnus inside, looking around the neat loft for any sign of Simon. 

“I see all the furniture was replaced.” Jace notes, deciding to stall in case Simon needs time to get ready or something. 

“Yes, I decided that the lion would have to go.” Magnus nods. “It’s rather hard to give Alec a good time when it’s moving around and what not--”

“Okay, uh.” Jace is done with the stalling idea. “Maybe you don’t know but I’m here to take Simon out. Is he here?”

“Okay, listen.” Magnus moves closer and Jace gets a feeling of dread in his chest. Magnus is looking at him with sympathy or pity or something and Jace knows that this means that Simon probably left, stood him up for whatever reason. “He’s really sorry about this.” 

Jace doesn’t need to hear any more. “Right. I should, uh, I should go.”

“Jace.” Magnus catches at his arm. “I think you should still see him.” 

Jace is confused. He doesn’t understand what he’d done that was bad enough for Simon to hide away in the loft rather than come break the date off himself. And he doesn’t really want to see Simon and his pretty face that apparently Jace won’t get to ever kiss, but he also wants to know. So maybe he can avoid it if he ever gets another chance.

“Okay.” He mumbles, following Magnus down the hall. Each step makes the anxiety in his chest rise until it’s in his throat, drowning him and choking out words. Magnus knocks lightly on the door before opening it, and Jace is immediately met with the sight of Simon, tucked into bed and looking kind of terrible. 

Of course Simon’s terrible is still beautiful, but he’s definitely roughed up a bit. His hair is a messy nest of curls, and what should be a suit is just an old high school shirt and pajama pants. His nose is a pale pink and he looks borderline miserable, even more so when he sees Jace in the doorway. 

“Magnus!” He moans. “I told you not to let him in!”

“Stop being so dramatic. It’s just a little cold.” Magnus chuckles, moving to the bed. Jace watches the way Magnus threads his fingers through Simon’s hair and the way Simon noticeably relaxes, and he’s suddenly very glad that Simon isn’t still living alone in the boat house. 

“How’d this happen?” Jace asks worriedly, quickly joining Simon on the bed. Simon gives him a heartbreakingly apologetic look, as if this is somehow his fault. 

“Taki’s blood.” Magnus supplies, and Simon covers his face with his hands. 

“Oh?” Jace can’t help the teasing smile that takes over his lips. “What happened to ‘I’m too careful’? Thought you knew better, Lewis, this is disappointing--”

Simon coughs before Jace can finish his teasing, and Jace’s playfulness is replaced by a stab of concern. His hand automatically goes to rest on Simon’s shoulder, and Simon grins weakly at him when he manages to stop coughing. 

“I guess Taki’s gets all their blood from sick people?” Simon shrugs, his expression shifting again into a look of disappointment. “I’m so sorry, Jace. I know you were looking forward to dinner. Maybe I could still--”

“No.” Magnus and Jace say at the same time, and Magnus continues with a scolding tone. “You’re staying in bed.” 

“But--” 

“Shut up.” Jace says gently. “It’s not your fault, okay? You’re sick, it happens. We can just reschedule.”

“It’s not supposed to happen to vampires!” Simon insists. 

“Actually, darling, fledglings are much more susceptible to illness.” Magnus explains, his hands still smoothing over Simon’s hair. Jace remembers getting sick when he was younger, and the way Mayrse would coddle him in the same way that Magnus is doing with Simon now. “It happens.” 

Jace nods encouragingly, carefully laying his hand over Simon’s. “See? Normal. Don’t worry about it, I’ll just change the reservations.” 

He tries his best to cover up any disappointment in his voice, but he’s probably not doing the best job because Simon only looks increasingly guilty. 

He can’t help it. All Jace wants is to take Simon on a date and spend time with him and show him how much he likes him, but apparently the universe is against the idea. He’s never had this much trouble before, and he doesn’t know what’s different about Simon. 

Except he does know what’s different about Simon. He actually cares about him, and he thinks about him all day and panics when he thinks about Simon not reciprocating his feelings. And so if the universe is giving them this much trouble, it’s probably for a reason. 

Simon is worth fighting for. 

“Magnus,” Jace grabs the warlock’s attention over Simon’s fit of kitten-like sneezing, “do you have food? Or enough food to make a nice dinner, anyways?” 

“More than enough.” Magnus nods. “Alec cooks.” 

“I love you and Alec, dude, but it’s kind of weird hearing about your dating techniques that you use on my brother.” 

“Try living here.” Simon huffs. He leans back into his pillow and tugs on Jace’s sleeve. “I can’t eat, Jace.”

“Magnus can teach me that trick where you lace the food with blood!” Jace insists, looking at Magnus. “Right?”

“Sure.”

“And I’ll light candles and we can watch a movie or something. And it’ll be a date.” Jace declares. Simon smiles after a moment of contemplation, and he looks so radiant despite everything. 

It takes twenty minutes for Jace to make authentic Italian cuisine. Magnus demonstrates how to use just the right amount of blood in the sauce and pasta to make it edible for Simon. It looks normal, Jace notes, and he wonders if there’s a way to have this done at a restaurant so Simon will actually be able to eat. 

He forces Simon to take a hot shower so he can decorate the room while he’s away. He puts flickering candles around the bed at safe distances, because vampires are highly flammable, and he centers the flowers on the bedside table. In order to make the bed as comfortable as possible, he grabs as many blankets out of Magnus’ hall closet as his arms can carry and piles them on the bed. 

Then he changes out of his suit and into some of the clothes in Simon’s drawer. The sweatpants are too long at the legs, so he’s in the process of rolling them up around his ankles when Simon enters, his curls wet and his favorite blanket around his shoulders like a cape. 

He looks awed by the state of his room, and Jace smiles at the look on his face. 

“Wow.” Simon laughs, his voice a little raspy but otherwise adorably excited. “It’s beautiful.”

“You too. Come here.” He holds his arms out and Simon eagerly joins him, immediately latching onto Jace’s side to enjoy the warmth and softness that Jace is providing. He makes sure that Simon is thoroughly tucked in before handing him his plate, which Simon eats tentatively at first and then outright devours when he realizes that it’s not hurting him. 

“Honestly?” Jace says after they’re done eating. “Not a bad date.”

“It’s good on your part.” Simon agrees. He casts his eyes downward and makes his upset face again, which Jace is really tired of seeing. “But I’m not making it very romantic with my fever and gross sick voice.”

“I don’t really care where we go or what you look like or...if the couch we’re on turns into a lion. I just want to be with you, Simon.”

“I want to kiss you,” Simon declares softly, “but I don’t want to get you--”

Jace kisses him before he can finish. With their luck, he’ll probably be sick for their next date. But it doesn’t matter. 

As long as he’s with Simon, nothing matters.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the boys. 
> 
> If you wanna leave me a prompt or just chat with me, hmu on tumblr @simonlewhiss


End file.
